Electrolytic apparatus.



R. L. WHITEHEAD.

ELECTROLYTIC APPARATUS.

APPLICAUON FILED APR. II. 1916.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

IV/V/l/l/ A mx nuewfbz $51 @Hozmeus ROBERT L. WHITEHEAD, OF PERTH AMBOY, JERSEY, ASSIGN'OR TO AMERICAN SMELTING- & REFINING COMPANY, OF MAURER, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ELECTROLYTIC APPARATUS.

mosses.

Original application filed February 10,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT L. WHITE- HEAD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Perth Amboy, county of Middlesex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrolytic Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in electrolytic apparatus, and particularly to the arrangement of the electrodes in such apparatus and the connections for maintaining electric contact of an eflieient character and of low resistivity throughout the system.

Prior to my invention, it has been customary in electrolytic apparatus for the deposition of metal from solutions (as, for instance, in the electro-metallurgy of copper, nickel, and the like) to arrange the electrolytic vats containing the solution to be electrolyzed, alongside of each other, and in such relationship that the working current entered a bus-bar, with which the anodes of the first vat of the series connected. From these several anodes, the working current then passed through the solution to the several cathodes of said vat, thereby electrolyzing the solution therein. The cathodes of the first vat, in these prior arrangements, rested upon and made elec-- trical connection with a supporting bar, which, in its turn, supported and made electrical connection with the anodes of the next succeeding vat in the series. The main defect in this general arrangement has been that it involved a double series of electrical contacts along the common bar supporting the cathodes of the first vat and the anodes of the second vat, and so on, through the series. This difficulty is of particular importance in electrolytic apparatus, for the reason that the working current employed is of relatively low voltage, so that the total loss of energy due to the large number of individual contacts called for in an extensive installation is very considerable in amount and importance.

My present invention is intended to minimize this loss of energy by connecting the cathodes of the first vat of the series di- Specification of Letters Patent.

.,voltage.

Patented Dec..5, 1916.

1913, Serial No. 747,253. Divided and this application filed April 17, 1916. Serial No. 91,585.

' tween the cathode of one of the vats and the anode of its neighbor in the series; Fig. 4: represents a top plan view thereof; and Fig. 5 represents a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawing, A indicates the individual members of a series of electrolytic vats, forming part of an installation for electrolytic purposes, as, for instance,

the deposition of metal from its solutions,

by means of an electric current of low The anodes a are provided with supporting lugs 19, 0, for suspending them in the solution. The lugs 72 of the anodes rest upon the bus-bar B, which supplies the working current to the apparatus, and the lugs 0 rest upon an insulating strip d,

.as shown. The cathodes e are likewise provided with lugs f, connecting them to the bar 9, which is thus electrically connected with and constitutes a part of the cathode structure, and the ends ofthe bar 9 constitute the supports from which the cathode is suspended in the solution. One end of the cathodes rests upon the insulating strip h, and the opposite end rests upon the supporting lug b of the corresponding anode in the next vat of the series. It willbe apparent, therefore, that, instead of the double set of contacts incident to the use of the common connecting bar of the former arrangement herein before referred to, an electrolytic apparatus provided with my improvements has but a single set of connecting contacts between the cathodes of.

the several vats and the anodes of the corthat is to say, the single contact established that? there isa corresponding saving in energy of one-half of the loss incident to.

the usual practice.

It will be particularly noted that my preferred connection between the cathode and anode is a Wedging contact. The preferred form of this connection is fully indicated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, and, as shown therein consists of a ridge or projection 2', cast integral with the lug b, cooperating with a recess j made onthe underside of a boss K of the cathode bar 9. This recess 7' is so related to the ridge or projection i that the side walls of the recess shall come in wedging contact with the sides of the ridge or projection, and, to this end, a corresponding clearance is provided, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 5. The relative conformation of the ridge or projection and of the recess permits of this wedging contact. In the instance illustrated, the result is attained by making the angle of the recess smaller than the angle of the entering ridge or projection, but it will be understood that this is merely one of many other like or equivalent expedients for producing the same result, that is to say, of causing a binding or wedging contact on opposite sides of the ridge or projection and between said sides and the lower edges of the recess.

I do not claim herein the form of the contact above described including the provision of a wedging effect by the employment of a ridge or projection on one of the coacting parts and a recess or groove on the other, as that form of contact constitutes the subject matter of another application filed by me on .February 10, 1913, and serially numbered 747,253, of which this application is a division.

I claim:

1. Electrolytic apparatus, comprising the combination of a plurality of electrolytic vats provided with electrodes consisting of anodes and cathodes, the electrodes of one of the two sets having lateral projections thereon overlying portions of the electrodes of the otherset in the adjacent vat and bearing directly thereon by gravity to support the electrodes of the first named set and clfect electrical connection between the two sets of electrodes, whereby the electrodes of the first named set may be raised vertically out of their vat and are electrically disconnected from the other electrodes by so raising them; substantially as described.

2. Electrolytic apparatus, comprising the combination of a plurality of electrolytic vats, a plurality of anodes in each vat having lateral projections by which they are sustained upon the walls of the vat, and a plurality of cathodes in each vat, each provided with a lateral projection extending beyond the wall of the vat and making contact directly with an anode in an adjacentvat by bearing thereon by gravity; substantially as described.

3. Electrolytic apparatus, comprising the combination of two electrolytic vats, a plu- 'ralityof anodes in each vat having laterally projecting lugs bearing upon the walls of the vat to sustain the anodes in the vat, and a plurality of cathodes in each vat, the cathodes in one vat having lateral pro ections which extend over and rest by gravity upon the lugs of the anodes in the other vat; substantially as described.

4. Electrolytic apparatus, comprising the combination of a plurality of electrolytic vats, a plurality of anodes in the vats each having a contact member formed integral therewith, and a plurality of cathodes in the vats each provided with a lateral extension which overlies the anode of the next adjacent vat and directly engages the contact on that anode; substantially as described.

5. Electrolytic apparatus; comprising the combination of a plurality *of electrolytic vats having anodes and cathodes therein, and a plurality of cathode bars extending across the vats, and each having a cathode suspended therefrom, each of the cathode bars being extended so that its' end will rest upon and make contact directly with an anode in a vat adjacent to the vat in which the cathode suspended from the bar lies; substantially as described. p

6. Electrolytic apparatus, consisting of a plurality of electrolytic vats, each provided with a series of anodes having end supports and a series of cathodes, the cathodes being provided with supports which rest by gravity upon the end supports of the anodes of the neighboring vat in the series and are electrically connected to the anodes solely by said gravity contact, whereby any cathode may be freely raised vertically out of its vat and is electrically disconnected from the anode by so raising it; substantially as described.

7. Electrolytic apparatus, consisting of a plurality of electrolytic vats provided with anodes and cathodes, the cathodes of each vat being provided with projecting portions which. rest by gravity upon theanodes of the neighboring vat in the series; substantially as described.

8. Electrolytic apparatus, consisting of a plurality of electrolytic vats provided with anodes and cathodes, the anodes of each vat being provided with lateral projections by which the anodes are supported in position, and the cathodes of each vat being provided with projecting portions which bear by gravity upon the said projections of the anodes of the neighboring vat in the series and are electrically connected to the anodes solely by said gravity contact, whereby any 9. Electrolytic apparatus, consisting of a plurality of electrolytic vats provided with anodes and cathodes, each cathode being suspended from a bar and each such bar making a single electric contact-with an. anode in a vat. adjacent to the. vat in which the cathode suspended from that bar stantially as described.

' 10. Electrolytic apparatus, consisting of lies; suba plurality of electrolytic vats provided with' copies or this patent may be obtalnedjor anodes and cathodes, each anode being provided with lateral projections bywhich the anode is supported,'a'nd a plurality of bars extending across the vats and each having a cathode suspended therefrom, each of said bars projecting overan anode in a vat adjacent to the vat in which the cathode suspended from that bar lies and making a single electric contact with one of-- the projections of that anode; substantially as described.

' In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

' ROBERT L.

five cents 'each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents; Washington, D. 0. 

